Super-hydrophobic composite bipolar plate including a porous surface layer

ABSTRACT

A hydrophobic composite bipolar plate for a fuel cell including a substrate having a composite material including carbon and a surface layer on the substrate. The surface layer includes silicon and oxygen, and a hydrocarbon moiety attached to at least one of the silicon or oxygen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/590,284, filed Oct. 31, 2006 and titled Super-HydrophobicComposite Bipolar Plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to a bipolar plate for a fuel cell and,more particularly, a bipolar plate for a fuel cell that includes asuper-hydrophobic coating.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Hydrogen is a very attractive fuel because it is clean and can be usedto efficiently produce electricity in a fuel cell. A hydrogen fuel cellis an electro-chemical device that includes an anode and a cathode withan electrolyte therebetween. The anode receives hydrogen gas and thecathode receives oxygen or air. The hydrogen gas is dissociated in theanode to generate free protons and electrons. The protons pass throughthe electrolyte to the cathode. The protons react with the oxygen andthe electrons in the cathode to generate water. The electrons from theanode cannot pass through the electrolyte, and thus are directed througha load to perform work before being sent to the cathode. The work actsto operate the vehicle.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are a popular fuel cell forvehicles. The PEMFC generally includes a solid polymer-electrolyteproton-conducting membrane, such as a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane.The anode and cathode typically include finely divided catalyticparticles, usually platinum (Pt), supported on carbon particles andmixed with an ionomer. The catalytic mixture is deposited on opposingsides of the membrane. The combination of the anode catalytic mixture,the cathode catalytic mixture and the membrane define a membraneelectrode assembly (MEA).

Several fuel cells are typically combined in a fuel cell stack togenerate the desired power. For the automotive fuel cell stack mentionedabove, the stack may include two hundred or more fuel cells. The fuelcell stack receives a cathode reactant gas, typically a flow of airforced through the stack by a compressor. Not all of the oxygen isconsumed by the stack and some of the air is output as a cathode exhaustgas that may include water as a stack by-product. The fuel cell stackalso receives an anode hydrogen reactant gas that flows into the anodeside of the stack.

The fuel cell stack includes a series of bipolar plates positionedbetween the several MEAs in the stack, where the bipolar plates and theMEAs are positioned between two end plates. The bipolar plates includean anode side and a cathode side for adjacent fuel cells in the stack.Anode gas flow channels are provided on the anode side of the bipolarplates that allow the anode reactant gas to flow to the respective MEA.Cathode gas flow channels are provided on the cathode side of thebipolar plates that allow the cathode reactant gas to flow to therespective MEA. One end plate includes anode gas flow channels, and theother end plate includes cathode gas flow channels. The bipolar platesand end plates are made of a conductive material, such as stainlesssteel or a conductive composite. The end plates conduct the electricitygenerated by the fuel cells out of the stack.

The bipolar plates are typically made of a conductive material, such asstainless steel, titanium, aluminum, polymeric carbon composites, etc.,so that they conduct the electricity generated by the fuel cells fromone cell to the next cell and out of the stack. Metal bipolar platestypically produce a natural oxide on their outer surface that makes themresistant to corrosion. However, the oxide layer is not conductive, andthus increases the internal resistance of the fuel cell, reducing itselectrical performance. It is known in the art to deposit a thin layerof a conductive material, such as gold, on the bipolar plates to reducethe contact resistance between the plate and diffusion media in the fuelcells.

As is well understood in the art, the membranes within a fuel cell needto have a certain relative humidity so that the ionic resistance acrossthe membrane is low enough to effectively conduct protons. Duringoperation of the fuel cell, moisture from the MEAs and externalhumidification may enter the anode and cathode flow channels. At lowcell power demands, typically below 0.2 A/cm², the water may accumulatewithin the flow channels because the flow rate of the reactant gas istoo low to force the water out of the channels. As the wateraccumulates, it forms droplets that continue to expand because of therelatively hydrophobic nature of the plate material. The droplets formin the flow channels substantially perpendicular to the flow of thereactant gas. As the size of the droplets increases, the flow channel isclosed off, and the reactant gas is diverted to other flow channelsbecause the channels are in parallel between common inlet and outletmanifolds. Because the reactant gas may not flow through a channel thatis blocked with water, the reactant gas cannot force the water out ofthe channel. Those areas of the membrane that do not receive reactantgas as a result of the channel being blocked will not generateelectricity, thus resulting in a non-homogenous current distribution andreducing the overall efficiency of the fuel cell. As more and more flowchannels are blocked by water, the electricity produced by the fuel celldecreases, where a cell voltage potential less than 200 mV is considereda cell failure. Because the fuel cells are electrically coupled inseries, if one of the fuel cells stops performing, the entire fuel cellstack may stop performing.

It is usually possible to purge the accumulated water in the flowchannels by periodically forcing the reactant gas through the flowchannels at a higher flow rate. However, on the cathode side, thisincreases the parasitic power applied to the air compressor, therebyreducing overall system efficiency. Moreover, there are many reasons notto use the hydrogen fuel as a purge gas, including reduced economy,reduced system efficiency and increased system complexity for treatingelevated concentrations of hydrogen in the exhaust gas stream.

Reducing accumulated water in the channels can also be accomplished byreducing inlet humidification. However, it is desirable to provide somerelative humidity in the anode and cathode reactant gases so that themembrane in the fuel cells remains hydrated. A dry inlet gas has adrying effect on the membrane that could increase the cell's ionicresistance, and limit the membrane's long-term durability.

It has been proposed in the art to make bipolar plates for a fuel cellhydrophilic to improve channel water transport. A hydrophilic platecauses water in the channels to form a thin film that has less of atendency to alter the flow distribution along the array of channelsconnected to the common inlet and outlet headers. If the plate materialis sufficiently wettable, water transport through the diffusion mediawill contact the channel walls and then, by capillary force, betransported into the bottom corners of the channel along its length. Thephysical requirements to support spontaneous wetting in the corners of aflow channel are described by the Concus-Finn condition,

${{\beta + \frac{\alpha}{2}} < {90{^\circ}}},$where β is the static contact angle and α is the channel corner angle.For a rectangular channel α/2=45°, which dictates that spontaneouswetting will occur when the static contact angle is less than 45°. Forthe roughly rectangular channels used in current fuel cell stackdesigns, this sets an approximate upper limit on the contact angleneeded to realize the beneficial effects of hydrophilic plate surfaceson channel water transport and low load stability.

Hydrophilic treatments of bipolar plates may be suitable for inducingcapillary flows in fine-pitched flow fields. However, it may bedesirable to provide hydrophobic surfaces for other bipolar platedesigns, for example, in flow field designs with wider channels and/orif external contamination is found to contaminate hydrophilic surfacesbecause the hydrophobic surfaces are less prone to contamination thanare hydrophilic surfaces. In addition, a hydrophobic bipolar plate isdesired from an electrochemical and chemical durability standpoint.Water and water-containing hydrogen ions and fluoride ions, i.e.,hydrofluoric acid observed from degradation of the perfluorosulfonicacid membrane materials, will have a high contact angle and not wet outthe hydrophobic plate surface, thereby reducing the rate of chemical andelectro-chemical degradation of composite and stainless steel plates,respectively. More importantly, because of the high contact angleexhibited by water droplets on hydrophobic surfaces, lower reactant gasvelocities are required to force the droplets out of the channels,thereby enabling the gases to effectively react in the electrodes. Lowergas velocities result in a reduction of compressor parasitic losses andin an increase in hydrogen gas utilization.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the invention includes a product including a fuel cellcomponent having a porous layer comprising silicon, oxygen and carbon,where the porous layer is super-hydrophobic having a contact angle ofgreater than 130°.

Another embodiment of the invention includes a fuel cell bipolar plateincluding a composite substrate comprising carbon, and a porous layercomprising silicon, oxygen and carbon, where the porous layer issuper-hydrophobic having a contact angle greater than 130°.

Another embodiment of the invention includes a bipolar plate comprisinga substrate, a first layer over the substrate comprising carbon, aporous layer over the first layer, where the porous layer comprisessilicon, oxygen and carbon, and where the porous layer has a contactangle greater than 130°.

Another embodiment of the invention includes a method for making asuper-hydrophobic bipolar plate including providing a substrateincluding carbon, and a porous layer over the substrate, where theporous layer includes silicon and oxygen. The method includes causingthe carbon in the substrate to diffuse outwardly through the porouslayer and attaching to at least one of the silicon or oxygen.

Another embodiment of the invention includes a method for making asuper-hydrophobic composite bipolar plate including providing asubstrate comprising a composite material including carbon, and a porouslayer on the substrate, where the porous layer includes silicon andoxygen. The method includes heating the substrate and surface layer tocause moieties including carbon from the substrate to diffuse outwardlythrough the porous layer and so that the moiety is attached to one ofthe silicon or oxygen.

Other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from thedetailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood thatthe detailed description and specific examples, while indicating thepreferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes ofillustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the invention that includes makinga super-hydrophobic fuel cell component including heating a substrateincluding carbon to diffuse the carbon into an overlying porous layerthat includes silicon and oxygen so that the carbon attaches to at leastone of the silicon and oxygen.

FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the invention that includesmaking a super-hydrophobic fuel cell component including selectivelyheating portions of a substrate including carbon so that carbon diffusesthrough an overlying porous layer including silicon and oxygen and sothat the carbon attaches to at least one of the silicon or oxygen inselective regions of the porous layer.

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the invention that includesmaking a super-hydrophobic fuel cell component including providing asubstrate including carbon and a porous layer selectively deposited overportions of the substrate and selectively heating portions of thesubstrate so that carbon diffuses into the porous layer and attaches toat least one of the silicon or oxygen.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention that includesmaking a super-hydrophobic fuel cell component including providing afirst substrate and a first layer including carbon over the firstsubstrate and a porous layer including silicon and oxygen over the firstlayer, and heating the first substrate, first layer and porous layer sothat carbon from the first layer diffuses into the porous layer andattaches to at least one of the silicon or oxygen therein.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the invention that includesmaking a super-hydrophobic fuel cell component including a firstsubstrate having an upper surface and depositing a diffusion barriermaterial over selected portions of the upper surface of the substrateleaving portions of the upper surface exposed, where the substratecomprises a hydrocarbon material, and depositing a porous layercomprising silicon and oxygen over the diffusion barrier material andthe exposed portions of the upper surface of the substrate and heatingthe substrate so that hydrocarbon moieties diffuse from the substrateinto the porous layer in portions of the porous layer that overlie theexposed portions of the upper surface of the substrate.

FIG. 6 is a graphic illustration of a SIMS analysis of the surfacecomposition of a composite bipolar plate having a siloxane coatingthereon that has not been heated.

FIG. 7 is a graphic illustration of a SIMS analysis of the surfacecomposition of a composite bipolar plate having a siloxane coatingthereon that has been heated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following discussion of the embodiments of the invention directed toa bipolar plate for a fuel cell having a hydrophobic coating is merelyexemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention orits application or uses.

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for making a fuel cell component 10including a substrate 12 which may, for example, be a composite bipolarplate including a carbon containing material such as graphite, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate 12 may includea plurality of lands 14 and channels 16 to form a gas flow field usefulin a fuel cell. A porous surface layer 18 is deposited over the lands 14and channels 16 of the substrate 12. The surface layer 18 may bedeposited by any suitable process, such as chemical vapor deposition(CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), dipping, spraying, etc. In oneembodiment of the invention, the porous surface layer 18 may includesilicon and oxygen, such as for example, silicon dioxide, siloxane, asiloxane derived material or a material including SiO_(x), where0.1<x<2.0. In one embodiment of the invention, carbon material, such ashydrocarbon moieties from the substrate 12, is diffused through theporous surface layer 18 and attached to at least one of the silicon andoxygen. In one embodiment, the substrate 12 is heated to a temperatureranging from 90° C. to 200° C. for 10 to 90 minutes by heat radiation on20 to cause the hydrocarbon moieties to diffuse outwardly from thesubstrate 12 and into and through the porous surface layer 18. Thehydrocarbon moieties attached to one of the silicon and/or oxygencreates a super-hydrophobic surface having a contact angle greater than130°.

The heat radiation 20 can be any heat radiation suitable for thepurposes described herein. Suitable examples include electron beam orlaser beam heating. Laser beam heating may present certain concernsbecause of the localized heating required in that the composite platematerials typically have a high thermal conductivity, and thus,temperature gradings could be produced. When using a laser beam for theheat radiation 20, it may be desirable to only heat the channels, andnot the lands, of the plates so that the channels can become hydrophobicand thereby facilitate channel water removal.

Hydrocarbons and composite plates include non-reactant monomers andoligomers, such as styrene, vinyl esther, phenols, esthers, epoxy,amines, etc., internal low-molecular weight processing additives andinternal mold release agents. Hydrocarbons in the carbon coating onmetal plates also includes these non-reactant monomers and oligomers aswell as residual solvents used in the coating application.

Referring now to FIG. 2, in another embodiment of the invention, theheat radiation 20 is applied to selective areas of the substrate 12,such as only over the lands 14 so that hydrocarbon moieties are diffusedthrough the porous layer only in the areas near the lands 14.Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, a diffusion barrier material 100 maybe selectively deposited over the substrate 12, for example in the areaof the channel 16, so that hydrocarbon moieties are prevented fromdiffusing into the porous layer 18 in the area where the diffusionbarrier material 100 is provided. The diffusion barrier material 100 maybe selectively deposited using masking techniques or by selectivelyremoving portions of a diffusion barrier material 100 deposited over theupper surface of the substrate 12, for example, by removing portions ofthe diffusion barrier material 100 deposited over the lands 14.Consequently, super-hydrophobic surfaces are selectively formed on theporous layer 18, for example, only over the lands 14.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in another embodiment, the porous layer 18 maybe selectively deposited, for example, only over the lands 14 and heatapplied directed only to the area of the lands 14 of the substrate.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention where thesubstrate 12 includes a base material 22 such as a metal, for example,stainless steel, and a first layer 24 overlying the base material 22.The first layer 24 includes a carbon material, such as graphite. In oneembodiment, the first layer 24 consists of carbon black and/or graphiteparticles mixed with an organic resin, such as polymide imide, phenolic,epoxy, etc. A porous layer 18 is provided over the first layer 24 andhydrocarbon moieties are diffused through the porous layer 18, forexample, by applying heat to the substrate 12 so that the hydrocarbonmoiety is attached to at least one of silicon and/or oxygen in theporous layer 18 to create super-hydrophobic surfaces having a contactangle greater than 130°. The diffusion of hydrocarbon moieties from thesubstrate 12 into the porous layer 18 may be accomplished, for example,by heating the substrate 12 in an oven, or on a hot plate, with a laserbeam or electron beam, or by hot pressing portions of the porous layer18.

Table I presents contact angle results as a function of 175° C. ovenexposure time for various composite plate materials coated withPlasmaTech Inc. SiO_(x) coating (˜80 nm thick) via a plasma enhancedchemical vapor deposition process. The samples were wrapped in aluminumfoil in the oven to eliminate external contamination effects. Contactangle measurements were made at 21° C. using the Kruss DSA 10 Mk2 dropanalyzer and a 10 μl DI-water drop volume. Except for material D, thecarbon coating typically consists of carbon black and/or graphiteparticles, mixed with an organic resin, such as polymide imide,phenolic, epoxy, etc. The contact angles for all of the compositematerials increased to super-hydrophobic levels within 30 minutes. Notethat the uncoated VE and NBO B samples did not increase in phobicitywith 175 C oven exposures, indicating that a silica philic layer isrequired.

TABLE I VE NBO B time (no (no (hr) SiOx) VE SiOx) NBO B S D NBO C2 076.13 <10 81.22 <10 <10 <10 <10 0.5 75.26 68.4 80.22 139.21 154.89 ~13139 1 76.96 121.5 79.85 139.11 139 43.9 146.8 54 74 135.67 81.25 150.98130.77 10-60 153.69 non- uniform

FIG. 6 is a graphic illustration of a SIMS analysis of the surfacecomposition of a composite bipolar plate having a silica coating thereonthat has not been heated. FIG. 7 is a graphic illustration of a SIMSanalysis of the surface composition of a composite bipolar plate havinga silica coating thereon that has not been heated. After heating, theporous layer 18 includes hydrocarbon moieties attached to at least oneof the silicon or oxygen therein (atomic mass units of 27, 41 and 43).Fragments identified in the SIMS analysis were as follows:

For the unheated sample: (XX-Y: XX=atomic mass unit, Y=element)

28-Si

45-SiOH

29-SiH,C2H5

41-C3H5

44-SiO.

For the heated sample: (XX-Y: XX=atomic mass unit, Y=element)

41-C3H5

27-C2H3

43-C3H7

29-SiH,C2H5

28-Si

The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and,thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention areintended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations arenot to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A product comprising a fuel cell component, saidproduct comprising: a substrate including a hydrocarbon material, aporous surface layer over the substrate, the porous surface layerincluding silicon and oxygen, a diffusion barrier selectively depositedbetween the porous layer and the substrate, and a hydrocarbon moietyattached to at least one of the silicon or oxygen, wherein at least aportion of the porous surface layer is hydrophobic, and wherein thediffusion barrier prevents the hydrocarbon moiety from diffusing intothe porous layer where the diffusion barrier is provided.
 2. The productas set forth in claim 1 wherein the substrate includes a compositematerial comprising said hydrocarbon material.
 3. The product as setforth in claim 1 wherein the substrate includes a base and a first layerover the base, and wherein the first layer includes said hydrocarbonmaterial.
 4. The product as set forth in claim 3 wherein the baseincludes a metal.
 5. The product as set forth in claim 4 wherein thebase includes stainless steel.
 6. The product as set forth in claim 3wherein the first layer includes carbon black and/or graphite particlesmixed with an organic resin.
 7. The product as set forth in claim 1wherein the substrate includes a gas flow field formed therein includinga plurality of lands and channels.
 8. The product as set forth in claim7 wherein the porous surface layer is over only the lands and not overthe channels.
 9. The product as set forth in claim 1 wherein the poroussurface layer is super-hydrophobic having a contact angle greater than130°.
 10. The product as set forth in claim 1 wherein the porous surfacelayer includes silicon dioxide.
 11. The product as set forth in claim 1wherein the porous surface layer includes SiO_(x) where 0.1<x<2.0. 12.The product as set forth in claim 1 wherein the porous surface layerincludes silicon bonded to oxygen.
 13. A composite bipolar plate for afuel cell, said bipolar plate comprising a substrate including ahydrocarbon material and a porous surface layer over the substrate, saidporous surface layer including SiO_(x) where 0.1<x<2.0, said substrateincluding a base and a first layer over the base where the first layerincludes the hydrocarbon material, said base being a metal.
 14. Thebipolar plate as set forth in claim 13 wherein the base includesstainless steel.
 15. The bipolar plate as set forth in claim 13 whereinthe first layer includes carbon black and/or graphite particles mixedwith an organic resin.
 16. The bipolar plate as set forth in claim 13wherein the substrate includes a gas flow field formed therein includinga plurality of lands and channels.
 17. The bipolar plate as set forth inclaim 16 wherein the porous surface layer is over only the lands and notover the channels.
 18. The bipolar plate as set forth in claim 13wherein the porous surface layer is super-hydrophobic having a contactangle greater than 130°.